This invention pertains generally to high energy switching devices and more particularly to high energy switching devices utilizing gas discharge tubes. will
Heretofore, Xenon flash tubes and other gas discharge tubes have been utilized for switching large amounts of power by connecting the electrodes of the tube electrically in series with a source and load and applying a trigger pulse to a control terminal to break down the gas and initiate the main discharge to transfer energy from the source to the load. Such switches willl handle voltages on the order of 10KV and currents on the order of several hundred amperes, and they can be switched at very high speeds.
In the past, high energy switches utilizing gas discharge tubes have had a serious limitation in that the tubes have erratic hold-off potentials which typically range from less than 8KV to more than 25KV. Consequently, if the source voltages is 8KV or more, the device may fire by itself, and this self-firing cannot be tolerated in many applications, for example, defibrillators where the device is used to control the application of a defibrillating pulse to a patient's heart.